Concert appeals with
unique music combo
Ignace Jang: With guest conductor Grant Llewellyn, performs with the Honolulu Symphony at the Blaisdell Concert Hall, 7:30 p.m. today. Tickets $15 to $55. Call 792-2000.
By Ruth O. Bingham Concert programming is rather like undergarments: crucial for proper effect, but not meant to raise questions or be noticed.
Special to the Star-BulletinWith three concerts in a row, Honolulu Symphony has broadened its repertory with inventive programs: a Bruckner symphony on Easter Sunday; a musical potpourri two weeks ago; and this week, a study in 20th-century contrasts.
In the first half, William Walton's Disney-esque "Orb and Sceptre" March introduced Dmitri Shostakovich's brooding Violin Concerto. The second half was all Britten, but it would have been difficult to find two more different works: "Four Sea Interludes" from his 1945 film noir-like opera "Peter Grimes," full of dark social and sexual innuendoes, and "The Young Person's Guide to the Orchestra," on a singable tune by Henry Purcell.
Because symphonic concerts must be programmed more than a year in advance, fate sometimes adds unforeseen twists. Walton's march, replete with brass choirs and English pomp, proved to be prescient programming: It was probably meant to mark Walton's birth centenary, but now more aptly commemorates the late Queen Mother.
For his annual solo, concertmaster Ignace ("Iggy") Jang contributed the Shostakovich to the program: "It is not heard very often in the United States. ... I studied it as a student, and it just stayed with me," he said. Besides, he joked, it is so little played that "if I play the wrong notes, you won't notice."
He didn't play any.
In fact, Jang delivered a stellar performance that culminated in a well-deserved standing ovation. Technically outstanding, musically passionate, Jang is unquestionably one of Honolulu Symphony's gems.
The piece challenges both sides of the proscenium: It is not tuneful, but lyrical; not flashy, but technically demanding; not singable, but memorable. Its sonorities continue to echo within for days, a haunting psychological drama, and Jang captured every nuance.
Sunday's guest conductor, Grant Llewellyn of Wales, lent the disparate works a sense of coherence. Britten's "Four Sea Interludes," with their evocative orchestration and crystalline texture, require careful playing: Every note is exposed. Llewellyn's conducting -- clear, concise, effective -- elicited an excellent performance.
Llewellyn approached Britten's "Young Person's Guide" with equal care. "In some quarters it is maligned; it suffers, I think, from its title. ... I think it's a masterpiece," he said. Local performer and businessman Guy Merola narrated well, with gentle humor.
"Guide" noticeably shifted the concert's tone from communicating to instructing. The text, charmingly written and immensely helpful for young children, explains but does not add to the music. With the narration, it remains a child's piece, which felt out of place after the Shostakovich and "Peter Grimes." Without narration, "Guide" is a great piece of music, entertaining and well written.
Each of the four works was well played, and they were all interesting, but they were interesting in different ways and made an unusual combination. Like pink and orange.
Ruth O. Bingham reviews classical music for the Star-Bulletin.
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